[Sean-a-Tron]

Doug DeMuro reviewed the ELR. Unsurprisingly, he didn't like it very much.

I would love to get an ELR myself, mostly for the styling and extra features... But I definitely couldn't justify the minuscule cargo capacity when compared to the Volt. Same goes for the rear-seat access.

 

[viking79]

He is correct on the aspect of pricing being far off, but he harps on it too much making it a terrible review. It was very obvious price was influencing everything he was saying before he even drove it, and statements like it is only an 83 hp car when the battery is dead are wrong, it still has full EV power for short bursts, so it feels much faster than 83 hp still. I think day to day the car would be very easy to live with. Also, the EV only range is very good for the class regardless of price. No BMW plugin hybrid has that sort of EV range (besides i3, which has a motorcycle engine)

 

[myoda]

Just to add my 2.5 cents and to clarify some of the misstatements in the video: I do agree that the car was overpriced when it was introduced. No one paid full price for it when it showed up. Also, the 76K that he kept on mentioning was for a base car. The car he rented from Turo pretty much had every option, full range adaptive cruise control, Kona seat package, Crystal Red Tintcoat paint, and probably listed for 82K. ELR does has rain sensing wipers. And they were sold outside of Detroit. The instrument cluster for the dash was in the ELR first, then some of those features migrated to the next gen Volt. Blind spots from the A pillar are just as bad in the Volt as they are in my ELR. How many of us that are six feet or over have ever sat in the back seat of a Volt behind the driver with the driver's seat set for a six foot driver? The ELR is a coupe, dumb ass. On average, I've been getting between 45 to 50 miles of range, when I watch my speed. Did you notice that he had 0 miles of electric range in the video? Odds are pretty good that he never charged it and was driving using the gas generator. ELR weighs 273 pounds more than my 2013 Volt. The cars that are in the 24 to 28k cost range have some significant miles on them. 2014 ELR had 181 hp and 295 ft lbs of torque - for 2016 a slight bump up to 233 hp and 373 ft lbs of torque. Last but not least, the doors are the same length as a Corvette, but I find it's easier to get in and out of the car, compared to the Volt. Obviously, it's not as fast as a Tesla, but the interior of a Tesla let me down. Value is in the eye of the beholder - I got a smokin' deal on my ELR back in May of 2015. The car had 1309 miles on it, with the balance of the factory warranty. I paid what my fully loaded Volt stickered for back in 2013. Sorry about the long rant, but I just needed to set the record straight.

 

[viking79]

Great response myoda, I was thinking the same about rear seat room, the Volt is already bad back there, why pretend and make it 4 door, when 2 would be better for the driver. The ELR is a really nice looking car.

 

[rickkop]

The only thing I can agree with this guy is there is the small back seat. Other than that. I've had this car 3 years and still get excited every time I get to drive it. I have never got so many thumbs up when driving this in my life. All I can say Mr. Blowhard is nobody forced us to buy these. I'd get another one in a minute and know a few people who would like the opportunity to get one themselves but it's people like this reviewer that helped ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

Also, the EV only range is very good for the class regardless of price. No BMW plugin hybrid has that sort of EV range (besides i3, which has a motorcycle engine)

Exactly! It annoys me when people say the Volt/ELR only have ~38 EV miles (EPA). They act like those miles are meant to compete directly with BEV's like the Model S and Leaf. And that once you use up those miles the car can only limp around town. When in reality, the Volt/ELR are a different type of EV than the Model S and Leaf, and they run perfectly fine in EREV mode.

 

[mtndrew1]

I remember my eyes bugging out when I saw the initial ELR pricing thinking it must be a misprint and then being lambasted here for my reaction.

To this day I think it's a terrible shame Cadillac priced that thing the way they did; at $50,000 ELRs would have been *everywhere* in just the demographic they were shooting for. Total lost opportunity due to hubris.

I think the last of the Saks launch 2014 ELRs was finally sold (new) about a year ago. That one had an MSRP that was the height of absurdity approaching $90,000.

 

[DonC]

I really hate when people cherry pick their price numbers. I could do a review and talk about how my $50K ELR is superior to my $44K Volt! In truth, having both cars, the ELR was probably worth $30K more in the same ways and for the same reasons a Lexus LS is worth $40K more than a Toyota Avalon. Why not do a review of how horrible and over priced the LS is?

In any event, while I love the Volt I'm more satisfied with the ELR. Just a nicer ride, delivers 100 MPG, and it still looks good. What's not to like?

 

[mtndrew1]

I really hate when people cherry pick their price numbers. I could do a review and talk about how my $50K ELR is superior to my $44K Volt! In truth, having both cars, the ELR was probably worth $30K more in the same ways and for the same reasons a Lexus LS is worth $40K more than a Toyota Avalon. Why not do a review of how horrible and over priced the LS is?

Because the Lexus LS is entirely unrelated to the Avalon. The Toyota Avalon is based on the Camry. It is a front wheel drive sedan that rolls down the same assembly line. Comparably equipped they are separated by $2,500. The Lexus ES350 is based on the Avalon and is similarly a front wheel drive car built in the same plant as the Camry. The Lexus starts at $39,000 and has a $5,500 premium over the comparable Avalon. This is a rational progression of prices for cars on the same platform from the same plant with the same powertrain configuration. This is why all of these models sell enough volume to sustain their places in the market. To go from an Avalon to an ES350 costs 16% more.

The Lexus LS is a V8 rear-drive car on a bespoke platform made on a unique assembly line. It shares nothing with the Camry and would be comparable to a Cadillac CT6 or a BMW 7-Series in performance, features, and price. It is no more related to a Camry than it is a microwave oven.

The Volt started as a GMDAT (Daewoo) platform chopped up to handle the battery pack and is roughly related to the Cruze/Lacetti. The Volt mules were all Cruzes. The ELR starts from those bones. All are front engine, front drive, and share the same engine family. They can all be built on the same assembly line. The Cadillac stickered for 100% more than the Chevy. This is an irrational progression of pricing and is why the ELR was an enormous marketplace failure.

If you take the same 16% progression from a loaded Volt (~45k) you end up with a $52,200 ELR. Those would have sold like hotcakes. The ELR only had one flaw and it was the number on the Monroney.

 

[Prohidium]

I saw my first ELR ever this past weekend in Auburn Hills Mi area. It was a very nice looking car. I stared at it for about 10 minutes and then moved on in case someone thought I was trying to steal it. I have been looking to see one since they were introduced but there are none around where I live in Canada.

I wonder if the owner is on this forum. If you were in or around Ace Hardware/Trader Joes at Watson and Adams, I saw your ELR!

 

[bro1999]

Just to add my 2.5 cents and to clarify some of the misstatements in the video: I do agree that the car was overpriced when it was introduced. No one paid full price for it when it showed up. Also, the 76K that he kept on mentioning was for a base car. The car he rented from Turo pretty much had every option, full range adaptive cruise control, Kona seat package, Crystal Red Tintcoat paint, and probably listed for 82K. ELR does has rain sensing wipers. And they were sold outside of Detroit. The instrument cluster for the dash was in the ELR first, then some of those features migrated to the next gen Volt. Blind spots from the A pillar are just as bad in the Volt as they are in my ELR. How many of us that are six feet or over have ever sat in the back seat of a Volt behind the driver with the driver's seat set for a six foot driver? The ELR is a coupe, dumb ass. On average, I've been getting between 45 to 50 miles of range, when I watch my speed. Did you notice that he had 0 miles of electric range in the video? Odds are pretty good that he never charged it and was driving using the gas generator. ELR weighs 273 pounds more than my 2013 Volt. The cars that are in the 24 to 28k cost range have some significant miles on them. 2014 ELR had 181 hp and 295 ft lbs of torque - for 2016 a slight bump up to 233 hp and 373 ft lbs of torque. Last but not least, the doors are the same length as a Corvette, but I find it's easier to get in and out of the car, compared to the Volt. Obviously, it's not as fast as a Tesla, but the interior of a Tesla let me down. Value is in the eye of the beholder - I got a smokin' deal on my ELR back in May of 2015. The car had 1309 miles on it, with the balance of the factory warranty. I paid what my fully loaded Volt stickered for back in 2013. Sorry about the long rant, but I just needed to set the record straight.
View attachment 136809

No, someone did pay basically full price for an ELR back when they were first available. He was even a member on this forum. But all he did was complain, complain, complain. Eventually he complained so much GM (for some reason) decided to buy back his ELR so that he basically paid $0 for 18 months of ELR ownership, sans operating costs.

 

[llninja]

I remember my eyes bugging out when I saw the initial ELR pricing thinking it must be a misprint and then being lambasted here for my reaction.

To this day I think it's a terrible shame Cadillac priced that thing the way they did; at $50,000 ELRs would have been *everywhere* in just the demographic they were shooting for. Total lost opportunity due to hubris.

I think the last of the Saks launch 2014 ELRs was finally sold (new) about a year ago. That one had an MSRP that was the height of absurdity approaching $90,000.

I was ready to buy one in fall of 2013 when it was about to be released, but at $75k instead of $50k, I bought a volt instead. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have been more patient and gotten a heavily discounted 2014 in 2015. Someone, please tbone my Volt so I can go car shopping.

If Doug doesn't like the ELR, then I'll have to just not like Doug

 

[DonC]

This is a rational progression of prices for cars on the same platform from the same plant with the same powertrain configuration. This is why all of these models sell enough volume to sustain their places in the market. To go from an Avalon to an ES350 costs 16% more.

This is funny. If you want to go that route, the ES uses the same engine as the Camry. It also costs twice as much. So a 100% difference (not 16%) for the same drive train! But in truth none of this matters. There is no "logical progression". I've ridden in an Avalon and I've had an LS, and there isn't any greater difference between those two cars and a Volt and an ELR. The ELR driving experience has something in common with the driving experience of a Volt, but not a ton. This should hardly be surprising. A Lotus Elite uses a Camry engine, and a Tesla Roadster used the body of the Elite, but the driving experiences of those cars are not close, much less, as you're suggesting, the same. Ditto for every VW from a mini car to a full sized SUV, all of which use the MQB platform.

The big problem for Cadillac with the pricing on the ELR was that it stuffed the ELR with a lot of advanced tech (including the suspension), and that tech cost a lot of money. Today some of that tech is fairly common but at the time it was cutting edge, low volume, and consequently expensive.

 

[BAZINGA]

I owned a 2011 CTS-V and 2012 Volt as part of my Yin and Yang garage. I too looked at the ELR and was planning on trading my V in on one, but just couldn't get over the pricing at the time.

Cheapest I could find was $50K+, so I traded the V in on a new 2013 Volt, wife got the red 2012 Volt. And there must have been a difference between the V and ELR, I actually carried 2 adults in the V's rear seat. Man that car was a blast. But dam did it drink gas. BEST gas mileage I got was a carefully driven 100 mile test on the highway under IDEAL conditions and I got a hand calculated 20.2 MPG. In town don't ask.

 

[llninja]

I owned a 2011 CTS-V and 2012 Volt as part of my Yin and Yang garage. I too looked at the ELR and was planning on trading my V in on one, but just couldn't get over the pricing at the time.

Cheapest I could find was $50K+, so I traded the V in on a new 2013 Volt, wife got the red 2012 Volt. And there must have been a difference between the V and ELR, I actually carried 2 adults in the V's rear seat. Man that car was a blast. But dam did it drink gas. BEST gas mileage I got was a carefully driven 100 mile test on the highway under IDEAL conditions and I got a hand calculated 20.2 MPG. In town don't ask.

I didn't know you had a V. Every few days you post more picture of cars from your garage - amazing. I almost have the same garage except I have a very rare manual transmission CTS base model with a tiny V-6. It's sporty enough and very fun because of the manual tranny, yet I was consistently getting 26 mpg combined city and highway and for long trips of all highway I would approach 30 mpg if i didn't drive it like speed racer. I got to drive a V at a cadillac event on a race track, which was a total blast, but it also convinced me that I don't want that kind of fun on my daily driver - too much temptation to do something stupid with potholes, pedestrians, and other vehicles around. I continue to yearn for some really fancy car during retirement, but it's going to have to have grandpa mode on it to keep me from killing myself.

 

[BAZINGA]

I didn't know you had a V. Every few days you post more picture of cars from your garage - amazing. I almost have the same garage except I have a very rare manual transmission CTS base model with a tiny V-6. It's sporty enough and very fun because of the manual tranny, yet I was consistently getting 26 mpg combined city and highway and for long trips of all highway I would approach 30 mpg if i didn't drive it like speed racer. I got to drive a V at a cadillac event on a race track, which was a total blast, but it also convinced me that I don't want that kind of fun on my daily driver - too much temptation to do something stupid with potholes, pedestrians, and other vehicles around. I continue to yearn for some really fancy car during retirement, but it's going to have to have grandpa mode on it to keep me from killing myself.

I like's my toy's.......the GMC Acadia is our grandchildrenmobil......

 

[Qinsp]

Ferraris aren't worth what you pay for them either.

Some of what you are buying is rolling art and exclusivity.

There is little doubt that the ELR qualifies as well.

Arguably one of the best looking cars ever made by any company.

 

[Mister Dave]

Arguably one of the best looking cars ever made by any company.

I second that. Also one of the few that actually followed it's concept version on design. You'd be hard pressed to tell the two apart.

 

[Loboc]

Doug is about four years late with this "review". I also don't like Doug or his three reviews.

He mentioned $45k as a reasonable price. Really? For Kona? He should have been yelling $82k not $76k.

Hey Doug, mine @$80600 MSRP came in at $43k. Nice guessing.

As mentioned, this "review" is full of errors.

 

[mtndrew1]

This is funny. If you want to go that route, the ES uses the same engine as the Camry. It also costs twice as much. So a 100% difference (not 16%) for the same drive train!

The base ES has a 3.5L V6 which in a comparable Camry (XLE V6) is $31,370. The Lexus is $38,900. So skipping the Avalon and going straight from the Camry is a 24% jump in price. There is no $63,000 ES. Using the same metric going from an equivalent Volt ($45,000) to a base ELR would have resulted in price of $55,800 for the Cadillac. That would have been totally reasonable and is what the actual transaction prices ended up being.

In any event Toyota sells more ESs in two weeks than GM sold ELRs in three years so one is a marketplace success and the other is one of the most spectacular failures in automotive history.

I stand by the notion that at ~$50-$55k the ELR would have been a smash hit for the target demographic and would have brought desperately-needed conquest customers to the brand. At $80k it was "an overpriced Chevy" with stacks of cash on the hood, AKA a damaged nameplate. The fact that Cadillac discontinued the whole line after two model years is proof that they absolutely botched what should have been a stunningly-beautiful halo car with green cred. A shame.